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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Man dies when air bag inflator ruptures during car repair

This July 6, 2016, file photo, shows the logo of Takata Corp. at an auto supply shop in Tokyo. (Shizuo Kambayashi / Associated Press)
Associated Press

DETROIT – Another person has been killed in the U.S. by an exploding Takata air bag inflator, but this death wasn’t the result of a crash.

Honda says a man died in June 2016 when an inflator ruptured while he was working inside a 2001 Honda Accord using a hammer.

Honda says the car’s ignition switch was on, so the air bag would have been ready. But it’s not clear what the man was doing or what set off the air bag. Honda says police photos show the metal inflator ruptured and shot out fragments.

Honda says it was recently made aware of the death, which happened in Hialeah, Florida. The company would not release the man’s name.

It’s the 12th U.S. death from the faulty inflators and 17th worldwide.